


You're Safe With Me|Elmax/Madmage

by softelmax



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy is an asshole, F/F, Flashbacks, Lesbian Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Madmage, Max is a pining mess, Neil is an asshole, Panic Attacks, Pansexual Eleven | Jane Hopper, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, both are broken up, byler, el goes to school, el is oblivious, elmax - Freeform, hopper is a protective dad, max is a gay disaster, mentions of abuse, mentions of past lumax, mentions of past mileven
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-25 22:52:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16207334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softelmax/pseuds/softelmax
Summary: El finally starts school but has trouble adjusting. Luckily her -kind of maybe- girlfriend, Max Mayfield, helps her cope.





	1. First Day Of School (Max's POV)

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably my favorite thing I've written in this fandom, Enjoy!

**Max's POV**

She _tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear, There's a slow song playing on the radio in her room. She puts her hands on my waist and stands on her toes until she's eye level with me. She leans in closer and closer until her lips are inches away from mine. "el..." I whisper, so soft that I'm not even sure if she can hear it. "Max.." Then the distance between our lips closes, her lips are soft and taste faintly of cherry. She moves her hands to my lower back and-_

I'm woken up by my door being thrown open, and someone pounding their hand on my nightstand. "HEY, wake up shithead, I'm leaving in five minutes and if you're not ready and in the car, then you're skating your ass to school." Ugh. It's billy. Drunk at 8 am. Again. I hate being in the car with him when he's like this but it snowed last night and school is 6 miles away. Way too far to skate, especially because I don't have any warm clothes. I didn't need them in California, but here in Indiana, it's a whole different story.

I put on a thin sweater and some jeans. I attempt to brush my long tangled red hair because I know it's El's first day of school and I want to look nice. I give up though because it's too much of a mess to bother. I grab my skateboard and walk downstairs.

Neil, my stepfather, isn't here. Either he didn't come home last night (that wouldn't be the first time) or he left early for work (I doubt it). I'm not concerned though, This happenes about twice a month.

I grab an apple from the fruit bowl and dash out to door to avoid an awkward conversation with my mother. What would I even say if she asked me where I was yesterday?  _"Hey, mom, sorry I was out late last night, I was slow dancing with and kissing the chief's daughter, Jane Hopper, also, did I mention that I'm gay?"_  Ridiculous. Where would I even start?

Billy is waiting in the driveway. "Took you long enough"

"Sorry" I mumble. 

He drives fairly slow. He's not an idiot, or maybe he just knows that Neil would kill him if he got a DUI. I'm glad because of

1\. He probably won't crash and

2\. If he got a DUI, then with my luck, chief hopper would be the one to catch him and he would associate me with Billy and that's the last thing I need him to know if I intend to date his daughter.

Billy interrupts my thoughts by driving into the middle school parking lot and breaking so hard that the breaks squeal in protest. Great entrance. "Meet me here by 4:00 or I'm fucking leaving" "OKAY" I shout, flipping him off as he drives away. I skate over to the bike racks and wait for the rest of the party to show up. Billy always drops me off early so he can do god-knows-what before school starts.

I pull out a comic book and attempt to read it, but I'm so nervous about seeing El after last night. What if she was weirded out? what if she doesn't want to be my friend anymore? I really care about her, platonically and romantically and I don't know what I would do if she hated me. She was my first REAL friend in Hawkins. Sure, the party let me in their group but I think everyone except Lucas and Dustin just saw me as a replacement for El, their Mage. I refused to take on that title so I made an entirely new category. I was Max Mayfield. Zoomer.

Once El realized that I wasn't interested in mike (ew), we became really close until it became something more...

I am jerked out of my daze when chief Hopper's car pulls into the parking lot. They park, but no one gets out yet. Knowing Hopper, he's probably lecturing El about safety and rules. He honks the horn one time and then she opens the door and steps out of the car. She sees me and breaks into a run "Max!" She yells, pulling me into a hug.

"Hi, Max! I missed you!"

I laugh "it's only been less than 24 hours Elli"

I'm the only person who's allowed to call her El or Elli. Everyone else has to call her Jane. She laughs that amazingly adorable laugh. "I know but I still missed you!

"Come on, I have to go pick up my schedule from the office"

She takes me by the arm and then slides her hand down to my hand. She leaves a spark of electricity wherever her hand touches me. Metaphorically, of course, She's not allowed to use her powers unless it's absolutely necessary. Hopper hasn't pulled out of the driveway and I worry about him seeing us holding hands. Luckily El doesn't completely grasp the concept of personal space yet so it should be fine. Others find it annoying but I find it adorable when she touches your arm when she's excited or strokes your hair when she's tired or bored...

"Where are your thoughts?" she says out of nowhere

"What?"

"What are you thinking about? you're staring into space and smiling. I want to know what's making you so happy!"

I immediately feel my cheeks and ears burn. "uhh, I don't know, I'm just happy that I get to see you 5 days a week now"

"I'm happy too"

Maybe I'm imagining it, but I think she's blushing. She squeezes my hand. Just a little.

I wait outside while she picks up her schedule and map of the school. While I wait I check of the bulletin board

                                    **Fall dance. November 10th**   

                                       _ **Tickets available for purchase now**_

Ugh, I hate school dances. Hawkins Middle has about a million dances a year and ever since Lucas and I broke up last spring, I've had no one to go with. Maybe El and I could go as friends, a lot of girls in our year do that. We could never go as a couple. Maybe back in California, we could, but this is Hawkins. It's not exactly the most progressive town in the US.

"Hey, Max whatcha looking at?" El says.

"Just the bulletin board. I haven't checked it in a while."

I say it sarcastically because no one EVER checks the bulletin board but El is immune to sarcasm and reads it over my shoulder. 

"Oh wow, they're having a dance next month! Do you know who you want to ask?"

 _Yeah, you._  I think

"I don't know if I even want to go, I'll probably just stay home and watch shitty romcoms." I say

"But that's not fun! Will said that we could go together as friends. I'm sad that he and Mike can't go together. I offered to protect them from the h-h-homophobic mouthbreathers that might disapprove of them but Mike said that I shouldn't use my powers around that many p-people."

Despite her improving vocabulary, She still has a bit of a stutter when she says long words or talks fast. I think it's kind of adorable, although I think everything she does is adorable

"Mike is right, Just because you're not on house arrest anymore, doesn't mean that you don't have to be cautious."

She sighs.

"I guess you're right. I just want to help them."

"Yeah, I get that."

She looks at me strangely. "Maybe we should go together."

She bites her bottom lip, leans in and tucks a piece of hair out of my face.

She shyly whispers "I may need more dance lessons like last night though."

I blush yet again. I guess she wasn't mad about the kiss last night after all...

A shiver runs down my spine and I take a shaky breath. "I'm free tonight? Can you sleep over?"

"I'll ask hop!" she says ecstatically.

I laugh at her enthusiasm "Let me see your class schedule"

She hands it to me and I scan it, we have several classes together.

"Come on, we have science together! Let's go look for the rest of the party on the way!"

El takes my hand and links our arms together. "let's go" she echoes

**_God, I love her._ **


	2. First Day Of School (El's POV)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if this is good or not but I wanted to try the kiss scene and the aftermath from El's POV. Enjoy!

  
_It's a rainy night and Max is over for the 4th time this week. Hopper thinks that she should visit less but I love it when Max is over._  
 _We're watching my favorite soap opera and Max is really into it. On screen, a man was teaching his girlfriend to dance for a "prom" whatever that is._  
 _"We should do that," I say_  
 _"what?"_  
 _"You should teach me to dance, you said you took some dance lessons a few years ago."_  
 _Her face and ears reddened._  
 _"I regret telling you that"_  
 _"come_ onnnn _" I plead_  
 _"we don't have any music?" she tries weakly_  
 _I get up, turn on my radio that hopper bought for me, and fiddle around with the dial until a slow song that's similar to the one on the TV comes on. "now there is"_  
 _Max laughs and shakes her head, "I guess there is!"_  
 _She stands up and takes my hand. I shiver nervously, even though Max has touched me before. but before it's always been accidental, and she apologized a lot. I always assumed it was because she didn't want to touch me, but she seems into it now._  
 _"So your arms... go around my neck, and my hands go on your waist"_  
 _She's blushing but I have no idea why She looks as nervous as Mike was at the snowball last year. But that was different, Max doesn't like me like that, Does she?_  
 _"Now what?" I ask, looking up at her face._  
 _"Um, Now we kind of sway to the music"_  
 _We dance like that until the song ends, then another one comes on. This one is more romantic, Kind of like the one that was played at the snowball. I push my self closer to her until our bodies are touching. I can feel her heartbeat, which is racing. I stand on my tiptoes until I'm eye level with her. I tuck a piece of hair out of her face and glance at her lips, and she notices me staring_  
 _"El..." she whispers_  
 _"Max.." I say back._  
 _Then I kiss her, long and deeply. Her lips taste faintly of Dr. Pepper and Vanilla lipgloss._  
 _I put my hand on her waist and pull her closer until our torsos are pressed together and I can feel her heavy breathing against my chest._  
 _I lead her over to the bed, I lay down and pull her on top of me._  
 _"El..." she says, in between kisses._  
 _She wraps locks of my hair in her hands._

_Suddenly there's a loud knocking on the front door._   
_"Kid! Open the door!". It's Hopper, back from work._   
_Max pulls away. "Crap, You should probably open that," She says, her hair is a mess and her face is red._   
_"Yeah.." I start, but neither of us moves and she is still partially on top of me. For about 20 seconds we just stare at each other's face and lips, both of us unsure of what to do next._   
_"uh, it's 8 o'clock, I should probably get going, my curfew is 9."_   
_She still doesn't move. Suddenly she leans in and kisses me quickly and softly on the lips. I taste some of my cherry lip gloss on her._   
_"Well... Bye?" she says, awkwardly._   
_"Bye, see you in school tomorrow." I hug her and give her a soft kiss on the cheek._   
_I walk down the stair with her and let hopper in. He comes in and starts asking me questions about my day, talking about tomorrow, and telling me about his day. But I can't really hear him, I'm too busy watching_ **her** _walking through the snow, to the main road._

"Kid! wake up! It's time for school! Wow I'm never going to get tired of saying that"  
I sit up in bed and squint at the sunlight coming through my window  
I'm really tired, I wasn't able to sleep last night, I kept replaying last nights events over and over again in my head.   
"I'm awake!" I yell back.   
I walk over to my dresser stare at the contents. I'm not sure what I should wear. I would usually call Max, but I'm afraid that she would be mad or weirded out after what happened last night. I really enjoyed it but what if she didn't? I made the first move but she seemed just as into it as me. I blush deeply, remembering how she whispered my name and twisted her fingers through my curls.

"Jane! It's 7:25! You still need to get dressed and eat breakfast"  
"I'm COMING" I yell.   
I quickly throw on some tights, a black skirt, a white t-shirt with stars, and an unzipped black jacket that I borrowed from Max.   
I run to the table, Hopper already toasted some eggos and is in the process of putting whipped cream on it.   
"Now, I'm putting extra whipped cream on but you HAVE to eat at least half of the eggs and toast first."  
"Okay!" I sit down in a chair and pull the eggs towards me.   
"Woah kid, you're going to choke, eat a bit slower."   
"Sorry, I'm late"  
"School starts at 8. The school is 10 minutes away, and it's only 7:30. You're good."  
"Oh okay."  
As I eat, my thoughts start racing again.   
What if two girls kissing is weird or shameful? A lot of people think it's gross. No one really cared when Mike and Will got together, but maybe it's different with girls? I don't know. But can if it really be so bad if it felt so right? I've never felt like that with Mike, but we never got that far. He kissed me a few times on the lips, but never as intense as last night... Max is (was?)my best friend, but in the last few weeks I've noticed some things. I've caught her staring at me as we watched TV a few times and when she saw me noticing she always turned around and blushed. I've seen her staring at my lips when I talked. She has been blushing and looking nervous whenever I touched her or played with her hair...  
I'm terrible at social situations but all signs say that she likes me. I really like her, but I don't know if I like her in a friend way or a girlfriend way...   
"Hop, can I ask you something?"  
"Yeah kid, what is it?"  
I pause and choose my words carefully.  
"Is it bad if two boys or two girls are together? Like romantically?."  
He stops chewing and puts his fork down. He thinks for a minute before finally saying something.  
"Well some people think that it's wrong, but I personally think that Love is Love and it doesn't matter what gender your partner is. That being said, If you ever get a girlfriend then I will be supportive. Just know that I will interrogate and be as paranoid with them as I would be if you had a boyfriend."

The blood drains out of my face. Is he just being supportive or does he somehow know about yesterday?  
"O-Okay, thanks. There was just a mention of that in one of my shows"  
He looks at me skeptically, "Alright kid, If there's anything you need to tell me, then I'm here to listen."   
"Uh, that won't be necessary Thanks though."

I finish eating fast to avoid another conversation with Hopper, and I quickly load the dishwasher.  
"You ready to go, Jane?"  
I nod. "Let's go!"

We pull into the Parking lot and I move to open the car door but Hopper puts his hand on my shoulder.   
"Wait I need to talk to you before you start."  
"Yeah?"  
"One: Be careful. Stay away from cameras and the yearbook committee. You need to be off the radar. Two: Don't be stupid. Stay in groups walking around the school, even if it's just Max or another friend. Don't. Walk. Alone. Three: Don't talk to strangers. Four: Wait for me to pick you up, Don't take the bus, don't ride home with the boys. Five: Call me if you want to go to a friend's house after school. Use the phones at the office, don't call from a friend's house. Six: Have fun and study hard. I love you."

"Don't worry, I'll follow all your rules. I'm not stupid. I love you too. Can I go now? I see Max over there."  
"Alright, have fun, Janey"

I step out of the car and run to greet Max. My heart pounds and I'm afraid that she'll be upset.

"Hi, Max! I missed you!"

She laughs, it's gorgeous. "It's only been a little over 12 hours Elli"

I beam when she calls me that. No one else can call me El or Elli but her and I could listen to her say it all day.

"Come on, I have to go pick up my schedule from the office," I say

I take her arm and slide it down until I'm holding her hand. She squeezes it slightly, beaming. _Gosh, I love that smile._

As we walk, Max stares off into space and smiles faintly.

"Where are your thoughts?" I ask. was that right? I'm not sure if that was a real phrase

"What?"

"What are you thinking about? you're staring into space and smiling. I want to know what's making you so happy!" I say. _Crap, that was too enthusiastic._

Her face reddens, "Oh I don't know, I'm just happy that I get to see you five days a week."

_That wasn't embarrassing, why is she blushing?_

"I'm happy too"

My face burns a bit as I squeeze her hand.

We reach the office and I go and get my schedule while Max waits outside.  
When I come back, She's looking at the bulletin board in the hall."Hey, Max whatcha looking at?" I say.

"Just the bulletin board. I haven't checked it in a while."

"Oh wow, they're having a dance next month! Do you know who you want to ask?"   
please say me, please say me, please say me

"I don't know if I even want to go, I'll probably just stay home and watch shitty romcoms." She replies

"But that's not fun! Will said that we could go together as friends. But I'm sad that he and Mike can't go together. I offered to protect them from the h-h-homophobic mouthbreathers that might disapprove of them but Mike said that I shouldn't use my powers around that many p-people."  
I really need to learn not to stutter

"Mike is right, Just because you're not on house arrest anymore, doesn't mean that you don't have to be cautious." She says

"I guess you're right. I just want to help them."

"Yeah, I get that."

I look her in the eye, gathering up courage "Maybe we should go together."   
I bite my bottom lip and move a piece of hair from her face like last night. Her hair is gorgeous.

I quietly whisper "I may need more dance lessons like last night though."  
Her eyes widen and she blushes  
She does that a lot when she's around me. I really hope she likes me

I'm free tonight? Can you sleep over?" She says.

"I'll ask hop!" I say happily.

_Maybe she does like me._

She laughs "Let me see your schedule"

I hand it to her

"Come on, we have science together! Let's go look for the rest of the party on the way!" She says

I link our arms together. "Let's go!" I repeat.

_I guess she doesn't regret it._


	3. The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N. I'm exhausted and I hate this chapter so much. I might edit/delete and completely rewrite this chapter when I don't feel I'm on the verge of death lmao.

**El's POV**

Max and I walked to science, Holding hands and touching waists the whole way.  
Neither of us attempting to hide our smiles or blushes.  
I move to open the door but Max stops me. "wait... We should probably stop holding hands..."  
"Um, okay." I squeeze her hand quickly and release it.  
I open the door and walk in. We're a few minutes late and 28 pairs of eyes look in our direction.  
Max walks over to her seat and I start to follow.  
"Ah you must be Jane" I turn and Mr. Clark waves me over to his desk.  
He turns to the class. "Guys, I would like you to meet Jane Hopper, Cheif Hopper's daughter. I want you all to be nice to her, and help her out on our curiosity voyage!"  
I smile awkwardly and walk over to the empty desk next to Max and the rest of the party.  
Will taps my shoulder, "Hey! congrats on your first day!"  
"Thanks, but it's not over yet!"  
I turn back around and focus on what Mr. Clark is saying.

 

Science was fun but pretty boring, Probably by Hopper's request, Mr. Clark went over everything the class had learned since September. I knew most of it, last summer Max and Hopper made sure I was caught up in all the subject except for math. Neither Hopper or Max is good at math so Will helped me with that.  
I spent most of science half listening, half staring at Max. She's really cute when she's paying attention to something. And the way the sunlight from the window shines onto her hair....  
The bell rings and I almost jump out of my seat. Mike turns "Are you okay??" he says, as he puts his hand on my shoulder.  
Even though we broke up, he still watches out for me. He knows all about my issues with loud noises and alarms.  
"Yeah, I'm fine. The bell just scared me"  
"Okay, I'm really glad you can come to school now."  
"Me too," I say, Smiling.

I get up and grab my bag. I walk over to the door and almost run into Max.  
"Hey, are you ready to go?"  
"Yeah!"  
I reach to take her hand, but she pulls away and looks down at her shoes.  
"Are you okay?" I ask. "You look upset."  
"It's fine. I'm fine. Just forget it." she says, Still staring at her sneakers.  
"Uh okay, My next few classes are Math, Language Arts, and Art, then lunch. Do we share any classes before lunch? I hand her my schedule.  
"No, I don't think so. We have Gym, and Spanish together after lunch and history though. "  
"Okay!"  
She still seems a bit upset though. I wish I knew why...  
"Walk me to Math?" I say, smiling and reaching for her hand. She pulls away from me.  
"Our classes are in completly diffrent directions, El."  
I try to hide how hurt I am.  
"O-okay. I'll have one of the boys show me the way. See you at lunch?"  
"Maybe.."  
I quickly grab my messenger bag and walk out the door before she can see the tears fall down my cheeks.

I have trouble focusing on my next few classes, It's also pretty lonely because none of the boys share any of my classes except for science and social studies.  
The bell rings after art class, and I put my drawing away in my bag as slow as possible. I am dreading lunch, I have no idea where to sit, and I really don't like rooms full of people.  
I slowly walk down the hall, following the crowds of people to the cafeteria. I keep my head down as I walk through the doors.

It's so much worse than I thought. Everyone is talking, laughing, and fooling around. The colors, sounds, and smells all blend together into an overwhelming mess. I can't even see the boys.  
I start to shake as I retreat into the hall.  
The door closes behind me as I step out into the hall and sit against the wall, slightly hyperventilating.  
I sit there with my knees to my chest and I have no idea how much time has passed until I feel a hard tap on my shoulder. I jump and look up. It's Max.  
"Elli, are you alright?" she says, sitting down next to me and putting her hand on my knee.  
"I don't know why you would care," I say coldly, pulling away.  
"Look, I'm sorry for how I acted after science. I was stressed out and I was concerned you were going to go back to Mike. You know you guys aren't a good match."  
I give her a look, "What?? Why would I do that? Mike is a good friend but we don't go so well as a couple..." I gather up all my courage. "Plus... I like someone else..."  
Her eyes widen and she looks hurt.  
"W-who?"  
I take a deep breath. "You..."  
She blushes deeply, stares at me for a minute, and finally whispers "I like you too..."  
I smile and she smiles back.  
"Do you want to go somewhere? I don't think you want to go into the caf, do you?" she says  
"Yeah, that sounds great"  
She takes my hand and pulls me to my feet. She leads me out the school steps and to the side of the school. There's a grassy area that's mostly covered by bushes.  
Max goes and sits down. She pats the soft grass next to her. "Sit down, I come out here every day."  
I sit next to her, a spark of electricity runs through my legs as our thighs touch.  
"Hi" I whisper  
"Hi," she says back, awkwardly fidgeting with a loose thread on her sweater.  
She shifts her position until we are sitting on our knees facing each other. Suddenly she leans in and kisses me. Unlike last night's, this kiss is hard and urgent. A different energy than before. She puts both of her hands on my waist and then gently pushes me to the damp ground and she lays on top of me, breathing hard. I shiver, and bury one hand in her long red hair, and put my other hand on her lower back. She pulls away, I whine when she stops, but she kisses me on the cheek, and then harder on my neck. She leaves kisses all the way down my neck and collarbone. She stops, unsure of what to do, neither of us knows what to do. This is new for both of us. For a few seconds, We just look at each other, both asking a silent question. How far should we go right now?  
Making a decision, I pull her back down and start kissing her again. I pull my shirt up, trying to slip it off and over my head, but she stops me.  
"El-" she starts, but I put my finger to her lips and continue struggling to take my shirt off. I don't want this to stop. I'm not 100% sure where this is going but I do know I never want this moment to end.  
She sits up and tries again "El, as much as I want to keep going, now is not the right time.." she stops as I lean in and kiss her neck, then I kiss all the way down to her collarbone as she did to me. She exhales deeply and loudly.  
"We're in front of the school, someone might see, I'm not sure how many other people know about this spot, Plus lunch will probably end soon.."  
She stops and then leans in and whispers in my ear "Maybe we can try again tonight...?"  
I smile. "I would like that"  
"Okay, It's a plan!" She says.  
Max sits up and presses her back against the wall. I join her and put my head on her chest, and that's how we stay for the next 10 minutes until the bell rings.  
For 10 perfect minutes, we stay there. Enjoying each other's company and staring at the sky.

_Not a care in the world._


End file.
